7-Eleven expands delivery services with Skipcart acquisition
The transaction could change how the retailer currently operates alongside DoorDash and rethink its delivery strategy based on the acquisition of the startup founded in 2018.
7-Eleven has acquired Skipcart, a platform consisting of a network of drivers for last-mile delivery services in the United States. With this transaction, the retailer has found a new ally in delivering its offer to customers across the country but it could change its business relationship with its current delivery partners.
Although both companies haven’t disclosed the terms of the deal, Skipcart was valued at an estimated $65 million last year, as reported by The Information news site. It is expected that with this acquisition, the retailer will be able to compete more directly with third-party delivery services. The company has been building up its partnerships with other delivery services such as Uber Eats, DooDash, Grubhub and Postmates, in the last years, but this new acquisition could change its business model.
The transaction represents a potential change of the brand’s delivery management. Currently, DoorDash’s contractor-driver delivers orders to 7-Eleven customers who shop through the company’s own apps or through the DoorDash platform. No mention has yet been made of what the new system will be or whether there will eventually be a similar situation in terms of the partnerships 7-Eleven has made with other platforms.
Skipcart was founded in 2018 and provides same day and on-demand delivery for a variety of industries, which include e-commerce, pharmaceutical, retail, food and beverages and more. With an average delivery time of 30 minutes, the firm has developed a strong network across the U.S. with presence in 37 states and parts of Canada thanks to a fleet of over 150,000 crowd-sourced drivers, as the official website states.
